BMW Five-0

Although fans of the authentic Hawaii Five-O undoubtedly remember Steve McGarrett rolling in a 1968 Mercury Parklane Brougham on Kalakaua Avenue, turns out that if you’re in Honolulu today, chances are far better that you’d see a police officer in your rearview mirror riding a BMW R 1200 RT-P motorcycle. (OK.

Blog Post: 5/27/2011

Gary S. Vasilash

Editor-in-Chief, Gardner Business Media, Inc.

Although fans of the authentic Hawaii Five-O undoubtedly remember Steve McGarrett rolling in a 1968 Mercury Parklane Brougham on Kalakaua Avenue, turns out that if you’re in Honolulu today, chances are far better that you’d see a police officer in your rearview mirror riding a BMW R 1200 RT-P motorcycle.

(OK. Chances are probably zero that you’d see a 1968 Mercury anything on Nimitz Highway.)

For the past 12 years, the Honolulu Police Department has been using BMW bikes for its 36-member motorcycle detail.

The department just bought 34 new bikes to replace older models in its fleet.

The new motorcycles feature a two-cylinder overhead cam Boxer twin engine that puts out 110 hp @ 7,750 rpm. Unlike the civilian models (same name without the “P”—as in “Police”), the police package includes lights, siren, high-performance electrical system, cooling system, radio preparation, and requested special-equipment.

Interestingly, there are some 80,000 police motorcycles at work in more than 150 countries.

Among the biggest fleet in the U.S. is that of the California Highway Patrol, but that brings us to an entirely different TV show. . . .